she calls puritanical anxiety. “I think people
are scared of nudity and scared of the body.

My work explores what may be fueling that
fear by encouraging viewers to question it in
themselves.” Her larger-than-life drawings
force viewers to be more aware of their
reactions to an unclothed form, leading to
a new way of examining and approaching
the body.

Media myth

Our beliefs about and level of comfort with
our bodies are clearly influenced by the
cultures we live in. So how are these cultural
ideas being replicated and advanced? Look
no further than the images resonating from
our televisions, computer screens, and the
magazines that litter our homes.

“We are a composite of a lot of myths
and narratives written by other people,”
says Min Kim Park, assistant professor of
photography. “Our idea about how to live our
lives and who we are is made up of a kind of
media myth.” Park’s photography, video, and
performance art attempt to critically engage
common assumptions about the body that
result, in part, from media images. She does
this by acknowledging photography’s ability
to manipulate images, particularly those
of women. “I am here to expose our shared
susceptibility to the power of media and to
warn us about photography’s complicity in
such representation.” Park confronts this
notion directly through her Zummarella
series. In this series of photographs, women
are dressed in the primary colors of comics
and take superhuman poses, but their stances
are only achieved through the support of other
female models or props.

“From a very early age we are taught how
to read, interpret, and assign meanings to our
own and others’ bodies based on culturally
informed codes,” Park notes.

These complex images shape our thoughtsand actions, yet this influence is not limitedto photography. According to Cheryl Cooky,associate professor of women’s, gender,and sexuality studies, research shows thattelevision networks cover only 2 to 4 percentof women’s sports, and when female athletesare depicted in media or advertising, they areoften trivialized or sexualized.

“Since sport performances are through
the body, we read those performances as
natural, and this is where gender comes in—
because sport becomes this really important
site for the reproduction and reaffirmation of
gender differences in our culture.” If coverage
of women’s sports is focused, for example, on
female athletes appearing on the red carpet
at a fashion show or movie premiere, it’s
unlikely to foster interest in women’s sports.
These sexualized images become the main
way we see and understand women’s sports—
and therefore what we think is “natural” or
normal in a woman’s body.

Some might argue that media outlets are
simply showing audiences what they want,
and that women’s sports would earn increased
coverage if audiences demanded it. But Cooky
and her colleagues argue in Communication &
Sport that the media actually builds audiences
for men’s sports by presenting images that
devalue female athletes and women’s sports,
making male athletic events appear more
exciting. For example, media coverage
typically ignores women’s sports. In the rare
moments when women’s performances are
highlighted, the media focuses on scandals
or female athletes as moms and girlfriends.
As a result, viewers are constantly fed a
specific and inaccurate idea of women’s role
in society. “The athletic performances we see
aren’t simply based on biological influences,
but rather the intersection of biology with
culture,” says Cooky.

A new model

If an image like a photograph or a drawing
can educate us about the human condition, we
have to examine if what it says resonates with
us. The classroom is a safe place to engage